On Your Six
by KirolaiSemperFi
Summary: Gibbs go by himself to pursue a murderer after the man put his team in the hospital.


**DISCLAIMER: NCIS is to Don Bellisario, as "I wish it was mine!" is to KirolaiSemperFi**

There was no one else in the waiting room besides the one man. He was sitting in one of the chairs by the lamp and table, hunched over with his head cradled in his hands. The nurses who had just arrived for the evening shift looked at him curiously, only to be told his sad story.

"He's a federal agent. Got his entire team booked in ICU." He heard it being told again as another new nurse set her coat down on the counter.

"Oh...that poor man."

It was no wonder that Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was worried. He had been careless, stupid, gullible...He had led his team straight into Lieutenant Robert Hamel's ambush...and he was the only one that made it out okay. Hamel escaped, but only after blowing up the building. After waking up under the rubble, Gibbs had to call in backup and then start digging for his team.

"Agent Gibbs?" A short nurse who had introduced herself as Hannah, stood before him.

"Yes?" Gibbs lifted his head, looking at her, ready to hear the worst.

"Everyone's stable. You can see them all, Sir."

"No one's critical?"

Hannah hesitated. "I can't say for sure. Doctor Mallard has been closely observing Dr. Patterson's tests, so I'm sure he would be able to inform you." She led Gibbs to a single, long room with three beds on three different walls. As she led Gibbs in, he could see that each agent was hooked up to multiple monitors, all had bandages on their faces, and all were sleeping.

Ducky was busy checking Ziva's charts, but looked up when Gibbs entered.

"If anything happens, just press a call button," Hannah advised before turning to leave. "I'll be here to check on them later."

Gibbs nodded, taking in the scene. "H-How are they, Duck?"

"Mm, well, Tony seems to be doing alright. Just a few bruises and stitches, and a minor concussion--"

"Did he wake up yet?" Gibbs walked over to stand next to his senior field agent.

"No, not yet." Ducky whispered. "Ziva...Ziva and McGee are a little more...troubled. They weren't as shielded from the debris as Tony was, but even then, they were a little prepared when they heard your warnings."

"Anything extreme?"

"Not too extreme." Ducky decided not to go full into details. "How's Abigail holding up?"

"She's with Palmer." Gibbs took a seat against the unoccupied wall. "Didn't want her to come here...not just yet."

Ducky took the seat next to him. "It wasn't your fault, Jethro."

"It was. I made the conclusion that he was at the house...I told them to gear up...I led them in...It was my fault."

"You were following your gut--"

"--and it got them here, Duck." Gibbs let out a frustrated sigh. He felt his phone vibrate, and answered it immediately. "Gibbs."

_"Uh, Agent Gibbs?"_

"What, Palmer?"

_"Uh...well, A-Ab-Abby, she...uh..."_

"She what?"

_"I was taking her to get some dinner because she looked hungry, but then she hijacked my car and is taking us to the hospital."_

Gibbs couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You guys are on your way?"

_"She's driving like you do, Sir."_

_"Are you calling Gibbs?" Abby's voice yelled out in the background._

_"Yes..ABBY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"_

_"Gimme the phone! Gibbs?"_

"Abby?"

_"We're coming over. No 'buts', got it?"_

Gibbs sighed. "Sure." He snapped his phone shut. "Abby and Jimmy are coming."

"I figured--" Ducky was interrupted by the ringing of Gibbs' cell phone again. "It must be Abigail again. You might want to pick it up again, Jethro. I've found that she can get really angry when you ignore her calls."

Nodding, Gibbs took the advice. "Yeah, Abby?"

_"Guess again, Jethro."  
_

Gibbs stopped. "Hamel."

_"How's your team?"_

"Not well...thanks to you."

_"I warned you to get out of there."_

"Not fast enough, you bastard. What do you want?"

_"I want to meet with you."_

"My pleasure. Just name when and where."

_"How about...here...now?"_

Gibbs tensed. "You're at Bethesda?"

_"No, I'm just kidding." Hamel let out a laugh. "How about the scene of the explosion?_

Gibbs shook his head. "You wanna meet me, how about at NCIS?"

_"I like the scene of the explosion better." Hamel suggested. "Ten minutes?"_

Gibbs exhaled. "Fine." He snapped his phone shut, telling Ducky where he was off to before he left.

*********************************************************************************************************************

"Hamel!" Gibbs had decided not to take out his gun. After all, what good would it do if the Lieutenant got away again? "Hamel, get out here!"

"Geez, Agent Gibbs!" Hamel's voice came from somewhere among the burnt down debris. "It took you long enough to come....and without back up?"

"Didn't want you to run away like you did earlier." Gibbs muttered.

"I only did that because I told you not to bring your team." Hamel's voice responded. "You disobeyed my one and only request."

"I don't obey murderers, Hamel." Gibbs decided to draw him out. Slowly, he advanced into the debris. "And now, what makes you think I'll let you get away again? You tried to murder my team!"

"Did I say I was trying to escape, Gibbs?"

"Knowing you--"

"You don't know me just from reading my profile. That's the social stuff, not what's inside."

"I talked to a psychologist."

"That Doctor that works for you? What's his name? Mallard?" Hamel laughed. "He's hardly a psychologist."

"More than you are." Gibbs stepped over a burnt piece of furniture. "He's done a pretty accurate emotional research on you."

"I'm curious."

"Why don't you come out, and we'll talk?" Gibbs suggested. He was already over halfway through the scene and Hamel hadn't shown himself. For all he knew, the place was probably rigged to explode again. "You said you wanted to talk." The sound of a gun cocking made Gibbs stop and turn around. He saw the Lieutenant standing beside one surviving wall, aiming a semi-automatic at him."There you are."

********************************************************************************************************************

_"Hamel! Show yourself!"_

_Hamel stepped out from behind a tree, carrying a shotgun. "I'm right here, Agent Gibbs." He looked around. "No back up?"_

_Gibbs shook his head. "I brought someone. Didn't think I'd come alone, did you?"_

_"No." Hamel shook his head. "Who would you bring? Your crew's dead."_

_Tony felt himself able to move. "Boss? Boss, I'm right here! I've got your six!"_

_Gibbs didn't seem to hear. He only swallowed, not knowing how to sell a bluff to Hamel._

_"Boss, where's your Sig?" Tony waved his hands in front of the team leader's face. "Boss? Hey! Gibbs!" He turned to look at Hamel, who was laughing. _

_"You have no back up, do you?"_

_Gibbs slowly shook his head. "No."_

_"So I've got the legendary Leroy Jethro Gibbs cornered? What an accomplishment."_

_"Boss!" Tony yelled even louder. "Hey!"_

_"You can go ahead and shoot me, Hamel, but I guarantee you won't make it outta here alive."_

_"And what makes you think so? You won't be able to stop me. You'll be dead." Hamel aimed his gun. "What a team you have. They're all weak...just like you, Gibbs."_

_"No! Boss! Don't listen to him! Boss!" Tony watched as Hamel pulled the trigger. He tried to stand in front of the bullet, but it went straight through him. He saw Gibbs fall to the ground, dead. _

"BOSS!" Tony's eyes flew open, and the first thing he could hear was the sound of a heart rate monitor. He looked around wildly. Where was he? Where was Gibbs?

"Agent DiNozzo? Can you hear me?" A doctor was leaning over him.

"Of course he can hear you!" Abby's voice said. "He's awake! Take that tube outta his throat!"

Tony nodded in agreement with Abby. He braced himself for the coughing fit he would have as soon as the tube would be pulled out.

"Ready? One..Two..Three!" The Doctor pulled on the tube, making Tony cough until an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth. "Agent DiNozzo, can you speak?"

Tony removed the mask after a minute. "Of course I can. Where's everyone?" He saw Ducky, Abby, and Palmer standing off to one side of his bed. The Doctor was on the other side. "Where's Gibbs?" He demanded more specifically. "Is he here?"

Ducky slowly shook his head. "He went out after getting a phone call."

"From who?"

"Hamel."

Tony's heart rate monitor increased its beeping. He tried to sit up from the bed, but was pushed back down. In the moment he had sat up, he had seen McGee's and Ziva's still bodies on the other beds. "I have to get outta here!" Tony fought against the arms. "He's in trouble!"

"Tony, no!" The Doctor protested. "You can't leave! You hafta rest!"

"Screw that!" Tony pushed the covers off, pulling the Doctor's arm into a grip hold.

"Aaahhh!" The Doctor crumbled to the ground, gripping his arm close to him.

The only three people who stood between Tony and the door was now Ducky, Palmer, and Abby. Nodding, they moved aside, although Abby had tears in her eyes when she moved.

"Where'd he go, Ducky?"

"The site of the explosion."

The nurses at the floor station were shocked to see an ICU patient sprinting down the hallway as fast he could in his hospital gown. It was pretty awkward.

Tony ran past a supply cart by the wall, grabbing a pair of scrubs. He needed to get a car. Shoot. Well...the site wasn't more than a few miles away. As soon as he slipped out of his gown and into the scrubs, he ran outside. Luckily for him, not that the situation was fortunate, an ambulance was waiting for a new stretcher after just dropping off an injured motorcyclist. He crept towards the driver seat.

"Sir?"

Tony pushed the paramedic into the passenger's seat. "Federal agent! Move aside!" He turned on the ignition, gassing the truck immediately. "You got a Marshall's gun in here?"

The paramedic frantically nodded, reaching quickly for it in the glove compartment. "Please don't kill me, Sir."

Tony gave him a look. "I just announced myself as a federal agent, kid! Why would I shoot you?"

*********************************************************************************************************************

"So that's it?" Hamel asked. "Really, you have no back up?"

Gibbs shrugged. "I have someone." He lied.

"Who?" Hamel laughed. "That computer agent of yours? McGee?"

"Maybe." Gibbs' hands were raised at this point. He didn't want to die unless he took this bastard with him.

"No. You have no one."

Gibbs decided to change the subject. "You said you wanted to talk?"

Hamel swung the gun. "Oh yeah." He laughed. "I just wanted to see if you'd actually come."

Gibbs heart clenched. He'd fallen for another ambush so easily. Great. "I came."

"And I'm still surprised. I've cornered the one and only Leroy Jethro Gibbs without any loyal sidekick to watch his back." He held up the automatic, aiming at Gibbs' gut. "I'm sorry your team's not here to say--"

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Gibbs watched as Hamel's lifeless body sank to the ground, dropping the gun beside him. Then, his sight turned to a dark silhouette standing behind the spot where Hamel had once stood.

"--On your six, Boss."


End file.
